Carlos Osuna | Hauptmann

CARLOS OSUNA was born in Mazatlán (Mexico) and studied vocal arts in his home country and at the Cardiff International Academy of Voice. In 2009 he became member of the opera studio of the Basel Theatre and took master classes with Grace Bumbry and Francisco Araiza as well as with Mirella Freni, Kiri Te Kanawa, Ileana Cotrubas, José Carreras and Sherril Milnes. The tenor for example received invitations to the Verbier Festival, the Welsh National Opera, the Opéra National de Lorraine in Nancy, the Festival Internacional de Santander. He celebrated great triumphs as (excerpt) Nemorino, Rodolfo, Pinkerton, in the title role Werther, as Beppe in Pagliacci and in Aus einem Totenhaus. Furthermore, Carlos Osuna is also very successful on the world´s concert stages. At the Wiener Staatsoper he for example sang Abdallo (Nabucco), Hauptmann (Simon Boccanegra), Gaston (La traviata), Aladdin (Aladdin und die Wunder­lampe, Kinderoper), Der große Sträfling (Aus einem Totenhaus), Beppe, Tebaldo (I vespri siciliani), Scaramuccio, (Ariadne auf Naxos), Narraboth (Salome), Hirt (Tristan und Isolde), Sir Hervey (Anna Bolena).

Marco Armiliato | Conductor

MARCO ARMILIATO studied piano at the Paganini-Conservatoire in his hometown of Genova. In the 90s, he became intensely active in the big opera houses of the world. At the New York Met, he conducted Il trovatore, La Bohème, Stiffelio, Madama Butterfly, Sly, Aida, Turandot, La Fille du Ré­giment and Rigoletto, and at the San Francisco Opera La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, La traviata, Tosca, Aida and Ca­valleria rusticana. At the Wiener Staatsoper, where he made his debut in 1996 with Andrea Chénier, he has conducted among others, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Bohème, Carmen, Cavalleria rusticana, Don Carlo, L’elisir d’amore, Falstaff, La forza del de­stino, Lucia di Lammermoor, Manon, Manon Lescaut, Pagliacci, Simon Boccanegra, Stiffelio, Tosca, La traviata, Turandot and Werther. He received further engagements at the opera houses of Barcelona, Madrid, Zurich, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Turin, Rome, at the Deutsche Opera Berlin, the Bavarian State Opera, at the ROH Covent Garden, at the Théâtre du Châtelet and Opéra Bastille in Paris, at the Hamburg State Opera and Verona. He is also internationally successful as a concert conductor.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky | Simon Boccanegra

Dmitri Hvorostovsky was born in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. In 1989, he won the prestigious Cardiff Singer of the World competition. Since his acclaimed debut as Jeletzki at the Opera in Nice, has carrer has led and continues to lead him to the most important international stages in the world, like for example the New York Met, ROH Covent Garden, the Bay­erische Staatsoper, the Paris Opera, the Scala, Moskow, the Chicago Lyric Opera, the Liceu in Barcelona, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Salzburger Festspielen, Australia as well as South America. Numerous contemporary composers write works for Dmitri Hvorostovsky. His most important roles include among others Graf Luna (Il trovatore), Posa (Don Carlo), the leading role in Rigoletto, Renato (Un ballo in maschera), the leading role in Simon Boccanegra, Jeletzki and the leading role in Eugen Onegin. He gave his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper in 1994 as Sir Ricardo (I Puritani) and has since also sung Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Posa, Rigoletto, Jeletzki, Jago, Giorgio Germont (La traviata) as well as the leading roles in Eugen Onegin und Simon Boccanegra.

Ferruccio Furlanetto | Fiesco

KS Ferruccio Furlanetto comes from near Treviso, studied agriculture and decided at the age of 22 to take up vocal training. In 1974 he gave his debut in Triest as COlline (LaBohème), in 1979 at the Scala in Macbeth, and a year later as the Großinquisitor (Don Carlo) at the Met. Since then, he has worked together with the most important conductors. Performances have led him to all the important stages, like the Scala, the ROH Covent Garden, the Met, in Rome, Paris, San Diego, Florence, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, St. Petersburg, Moskow, and to the Salzburger Festspielen. In 1985 he gave his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper as Figaro (Le nozze di Figa­ro) and has since also sung among others Basilio (Barbiere di Siviglia), Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Giovanni, Sidney (Il viaggio a Reims), Padre Guardiano (Forza del destino), Phanuel (Hérodiade), Mus­tafà (L’italiana in Algeri), Sparafucile (Rigoletto), Philipp II., Boris Godunow, Colline, Procida (Vespri siciliani), Silva (Ernani), Zaccaria and Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra). In 2001, he became an Austrian chamber singer.. in 2007, he was made an honorary ensemble member of the Wiener Staatsoper. In 2005, he took part in the celebration concert of the 50 years since the re-opening of the Wiener Staatsoper.

Barbara Frittoli | Amelia

KS Barbara Frittoli was born in Milan. She studied at the Conservatoire Guiseppe Verdi and is a prizewinner of numerous international awards. She is one of the most sought after singers of her profession and regularly works together with the most important conductors. She has performed at all the most important opera houses like the Met, the ROH Covent Garden, the Scala, the Pariser Opéra Bastille, the Bayerischen Staatsoper, as well as in cities like Florence, Naples, Turin, Rome, Geneva, Bologna, Brussels, Jerusalem, Barcelona and Dresden. She is also a regular guest at the most important festivals like the Salzburger Festspielen, in Ravenna and Glyndebourne as well as the Maggio Musicale. She has celebrated success among others in roles such as Mimì, Antonia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Contessa d’Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Desdemona (Otello), Fiordi­ligi, Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Liù (Turandot), Alice (Falstaff), Amelia, Leonora (Il trova­tore), Luisa Miller, Adriana Lecouvreur and Elisabetta (Don Carlo). She gave her debut at the Wiener Staatsoper as Mimì in 1993, and has since also sung Donna Anna and Donna Elvira, Antonia, Amelia, Contessa d’Almaviva, Desdemona and Fiordiligi. In February 2012, she became an Austrian Chamber Singer.

Francesco Meli | Gabriele Adorno

English biography coming soon.

Adam Plachetka | Paolo

Bass baritone Adam Plachetka was born in 1985 and completed his studies at the Conservatory of his hometown Prague. Apart from a number of national competitions, he won the International Antonin Dvorak singing competition. In 2005 he made his debut at the Prague National Theatre, where he for example performed as Don Giovanni, Publio (La clemenza di Tito), Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Nardo (La finta giardiniera), Argante (Rinaldo) and Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte). He performed Papageno (Die Zauberflöte) at the Prague State Opera as well as Don Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia).

Engagements led Adam Plachetka to the Salzburg Festival, to the Bayerische Staatsoper, to Glyndebourne, to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden London, to La Scala Milan and to the Berlin Staatsoper.

The corsair Simon Boccanegra has been elected Doge of Genoa thanks to the assistance of Paolo Albiani. He hopes that in this position the patrician Jacopo Fiesco will no longer be able to refuse him the hand of his daughter Maria, Simon’s sweetheart and the mother of his daughter. When Maria dies, Jacopo swears to take revenge on Simon unless the latter hands over his granddaughter to him. However, after being put in the care of a nurse, the young girl has disappeared.
The fate of Simon’s daughter is explained 25 years later. We learn that she has grown up in the Grimaldi household as the foundling Amelia, and has now fallen in love with the patrician Gabriele Adorno. Simon seeks her hand in marriage for Paolo, who in the meantime has become the Doge’s chancellor. However, when father and daughter recognize one another, Simon abandons this plan. Paolo is enraged, and arranges for Amelia to be abducted, a plot which is foiled by Gabriele. Whilst the senate is in session, he rushes into the council chamber intending to accuse Simon of instigating the abduction. However, Amelia throws herself between them. Simon suspects that Paolo was behind the abduction, and orders him to curse the wrongdoer. Paolo takes revenge by putting poison in Simon’s goblet. Gabriele is also determined to take the Doge’s life, since Paolo has led him to believe that the latter is Amelia’s lover. Once again, Amelia intervenes, and reveals to Gabriele that she is in fact Simon’s daughter. When the patricians approach determined to overthrow the Doge, Gabriele sides with Simon. The uprising is put down, and Paolo condemned to death. However, his poison is already starting to take effect. As he dies, Simon is reconciled with Jacopo when the latter learns that Amelia is his granddaughter.